J.R.R.T. wrote:'Knock on the doors with your head, Peregrin Took', said Gandalf. 'But if that does not shatter them, and I am allowed a little peace from foolish questions, I will seek for the opening words.

'I once knew every spell in all the tongues of Elves or Men or Orcs, that was ever used for such a purpose. I can still remember ten score of them without searching in my mind.'

So this guy can think of 200 spells to open doors off the top of his head.

Gandalf was basically an avatar of the God of Wizards, just as Saruman was an avatar of the God of Sorcerors (one way of looking at it). They were both immortal beings created at the dawn of time, who were given bodies that looked man-like in order to complete their mission when they came to Middle-Earth.

Gandalf was acknowledged as the wisest of the Maiar, the "Lesser Gods" of Tolkien's mythology. As he spent more time in Middle-Earth, his avatar became more "manlike" and he got more and more into the role. He lost a lot of his wisdom and power to time and force of habit, and then when he was sent back to finish his job on Middle-Earth as Gandalf the White (upgraded avatar) it was clear he'd lost a lot of his "humanity".

- Aloro

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote:The meaning of earthly existence lies, not as we have grown used to thinking, in prosperity, but in the development of the soul.

4x4_Ender wrote:Meh, Gadolf is still a goody too-shoes when it comes right down to it. Raistlin, though, was badass powerful! Riding on the back of an anchient green dragon?

Raistlin is as powerful as they come as far as Mages. He would mop the floor with Ganfolf's pansy corpse.

The instructions given to the Istari when they came to Middle-Earth required them not to use force or show their true power except against powerful foes. 99% of the time Gandalf simply didn't use his powers.

J.R.R.T. wrote:'Dangerous!' cried Gandalf. 'And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, Unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord.'

Raistlin had a lot of character flaws that would be pretty simply exploited by someone with Gandalf's incredible insight. Had Gandalf wanted power, he could quite easily have set himself up as the Dark Lord and overthrown Sauron. Hells, he had the One Ring in his hand at one point, and said as much. Instead, he stuck to the guidelines and did his job right, inspiring the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth to fight for their own future, rather than just doing all the work for them.

Raistlin was a wimp. He couldn't even physically lift Glamdring over his head.

- Aloro

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote:The meaning of earthly existence lies, not as we have grown used to thinking, in prosperity, but in the development of the soul.

For sheer power, I think Raistlin would have to trump Gandalf. The evil guy essentially wiped out all the gods, greater and lesser, and all creation in one alternate future of Krynn, if I remember correctly. Granted, the gods of Krynn didn't create their universe (again, I could be mis-remembering), but that's still pretty potent. Even with the One Ring, I wouldn't expect Gandalf to be able to pull that off, if even Melkor in his heyday couldn't. Of course, Tolkein's magic wasn't always so crass and flashy as Dragonlance. A lot of things that just happened were insinuated to be magical effects without the rigid codification of everything magical into a level 1-9 spell or magic item.

GreyLynx wrote:For sheer power, I think Raistlin would have to trump Gandalf. The evil guy essentially wiped out all the gods, greater and lesser, and all creation in one alternate future of Krynn, if I remember correctly. Granted, the gods of Krynn didn't create their universe (again, I could be mis-remembering), but that's still pretty potent. Even with the One Ring, I wouldn't expect Gandalf to be able to pull that off, if even Melkor in his heyday couldn't. Of course, Tolkein's magic wasn't always so crass and flashy as Dragonlance. A lot of things that just happened were insinuated to be magical effects without the rigid codification of everything magical into a level 1-9 spell or magic item.

Wow. Raistlin is my hero now.

My heart goes out, from one coughing mage with six constitution to another.

It is important to remember that Tolkien didn't write magic as they do now days. So let's not forget that Gandalf took on the Balrog, passed through the center of the Earth to the lower planes of Hell and defeated him there *takes a deep breath* then crossed the cosmos for an eon before coming back as the white wizard to smite Saruman (how much xp is THAT worth?). Raist may have been the Master of Past and Present, but Gandalf was beyond time.

The evil one was mighty potent wizard, tho, and the question was about total power... hrm tough one. *heh heh* I actually voted for Raist myself. By far my favorite Wizard.